Beirut witness: there was 'shooting between Iran embassy staff and attackers'

Euronews spoke to journalist Neyla Chehwan in Beirut where she works for Lebanese television.

She witnessed the aftermath of the attack outside the Iranian embassy, for which a group linked to al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility.

“When we arrived at the scene, there were burned bodies on the ground. I saw a dozen myself,” Chehwan said.

“The time lapse separating the two explosions was about 30 seconds. There was shooting between Iranian embassy personnel and the attackers. The attackers could not reach the embassy – which was their goal of course, to attack the Iranian embassy – but they could not reach it, they failed.”

“MPs from the Development and Liberation party and Bloc of Resistance rushed to the scene and they announced that the attack was a message to Iran and to the role the country plays in the region, and they insisted that it was against the way that Iran conducts its policies in the region.”